Standards and Guidelines for Electronic Medical Record Systems in ...

Foreword
The mandate of the Ministries of Health is the provision of quality health services,
promotion of equity in access, financial risk protection and overall governance and
stewardship of the health sector. To execute this mandate there is an absolute need for
information to guide policy making, intervention options, programming and effective
management of health facilities and health districts. Over the years harnessing of this
information has been a challenge both in the public and private subsectors. This has
partly been due to the weak health information infrastructure, a poor information
culture that does not spur demand for information, multiple and parallel information
systems, a thin and stretched human resource to support data collection,
transformation, presentation and archiving among others.
It is with this background that the ministries through the Division of Health Information
system (HIS) undertook to develop a health information policy and strategic plan (2009-
2014) to guide the health information strengthening agenda in the country. In its
Strategic Plan, the HIS has planned to improve data management and strengthen the use
and application of information technology in data management. To effectively do this,
there is need to develop standards that will ensure quality of software, compatibility of
data sharing, ease of maintenance and common understanding among the workforce.
Data complexity, volumes of patients served and the desire to have efficient health
information systems have defined the need for Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
Systems in Kenya. EMR systems, when well developed and implemented, can improve
the process of data collection resulting in better quality and more reliable health
information. These systems can also greatly improve aggregation and reporting of data
from facilities. EMR systems support provision of health care through the integrated
clinical decision support functions and by ensuring that patient information is available
across facilities for continuity of care.
Coordination of development, deployment, implementation and maintenance of these
systems is fundamental to their success in the health sector. This first edition of the
Standards and Guidelines for EMR Systems in Kenya aims to provide guidance for the
development of EMR systems for use in Kenya and set an environment for successful
implementation and use of these systems. This document is a product of consistent
work carried out by the Division of Health Information Systems in the Ministry, National
Aids and STI Control Program, Kenya Bureau of Standards and I-TECH, working through